The First Original Medical Professional Printed Book in Southeast Europe.

Area of Science:

• Medical History
• Southeast European Medicine
• Croatian Medical Literature

Background:

• Dr. John the Baptist Lalangue is recognized as the author of the first Croatian medical book, a significant achievement in Southeast Europe during the late 18th century.
• His contributions were pivotal in the development of medical literature in the region.

Purpose of the Study:

• To document key facts about the inaugural original medical professional printed books in the Croatian language.
• To highlight the historical significance of Dr. Lalangue's medical publications.

Main Methods:

• Research involved examining Dr. Lalangue's book, "Medicina ruralis iliti Vrachtva ladanyszka, za potrebochu musev, y sziromakov. Horvatczkoga orszaga y okolu nyega, blisnesseh meszt," in libraries in Zagreb and Varaždin.
• Literature search included scientific databases such as PubMed, PubMed Central, and EBSCO.

Main Results:

• Dr. Lalangue's "Medicina ruralis," published in 1776 in Varaždin, is identified as the first original medical book printed in Southeast Europe and in the Croatian language.
• This seminal work was published by the Trattner printing house.

Conclusions:

• Dr. Lalangue authored pioneering works in Croatian medicine, including a midwifery textbook and a balneological text, both firsts for Southeast Europe.
• His contributions warrant recognition as significant achievements in the history of medicine.